16th Century - Antiphonal Large Fragment (Liturgical Choir Book)

Period: Circa 16th Century

Measures: 27" Tall

Medium: Handwritten ink and tempera on animal vellum; bound in dark calfskin leather over heavy wooden core boards with protective brass hardware.

DESCRIPTION:

This monumental 16th- or 17th-century liturgical choir book represents a remarkable fusion of heavy early modern bookbinding engineering and elegant devotional art, meticulously scaled to allow a standing choir to read collectively from a single central lectern. The exterior is built like armor to withstand centuries of daily ritual use, featuring a full, darkened calfskin leather binding over robust wooden boards, reinforced by hand-tooled geometric blind stamping, heavy iron-riveted corner braces, and a curved central iron boss designed to lift the volume and protect the leather from surface wear. Inside, the massive animal vellum pages reveal a beautifully preserved two-page opening written in a crisp Gothic bookhand, utilizing square black notes set against five-line red staves engineered for high-visibility sight-reading from several feet away. Vibrant hand-painted and calligraphic initials—including a blue and orange-red tempera capital on the left and a sweeping, interlocking black ink initial 'R' on the right—serve as elegant visual anchors marking the start of new chants. Complete with crimson "rubrics" to provide structural performance cues and handling wear along the outer margins from generations of turning hands, this volume stands as a powerful material testament to the communal, physical realities of historical monastic worship.